The alarm blared, and Ryuu's hand shot out, slamming it off with more aggression than needed. He blinked at the clock: 6:45 AM.
Then blinked again.
6:43 AM.
"…Wait, what?" he muttered.
The digits rewound. Time was glitching.
Aera flickered to life above his desk in a swirl of cyan pixels.
The AI hovered with crossed arms and an amused expression. "Temporal Echoes.
Your re-entry into this timeline isn't fully synchronized yet. Small loops, mild distortions. Nothing lethal."
Ryuu groaned, dragging himself out of bed. "You say that like the toaster won't try to electrocute me again."
"Statistically, low chance of electrocution. High chance of burned toast." Aera smiled sweetly as smoke wafted from the kitchen.
Ryuu stumbled into his uniform as the morning lights flickered strangely across the walls. The digital calendar on his wall blinked between Tuesday and Friday.
"Alright, what's the real damage?" he asked while brushing his teeth.
Aera's expression turned more serious.
"We've detected an elevated Karma Signature within Tokyo's school zones. Spiritual interference from a powerful cultivator."
Ryuu paused mid-brush. "So… what? Another sect?"
"Worse. One with authorization. This person is either high-ranking or hiding under extremely advanced masking protocols."
She projected a spinning karmic glyph with fragments of fate string data disintegrating at the edges. "I can't read them properly."
Ryuu wiped his mouth. "You're saying someone's coming for me."
"Or for something near you," she said, fading back into his holo-bracelet. "Either way, we're being watched."
As Ryuu stepped outside, the air had that strange tension — like the city itself was holding its breath.
Neon signs flickered even in the morning light. A crow cawed twice and flew backwards for a second before physics corrected itself.
"Yup," Ryuu muttered, adjusting his bag. "Totally normal Monday."
A soft ping came through the system.
[System Notification: Presence Detected – Affinity Unknown. Prepare for Shift.]
He looked up toward the distant skyline of downtown Tokyo. Something shimmered near the high school rooftop, like a heatwave ripple in the wrong direction.
Aera whispered in his earpiece:
"New player… just entered the board."
Homeroom buzzed with the typical Monday chaos—papers flying, chairs scraping, someone's phone playing an anime OP way too loud.
Ryuu slipped into his seat by the window, head leaning on one hand, staring out into the flickering skyline.
He tried to look casual, but his interface kept pinging softly in his peripheral vision. Static-laced spiritual alerts. Minor anomalies. Glitchy background karma radiation.
Then the classroom door slid open with a smooth click.
The chaos cut like a blade through butter.
Even the loud guy stopped humming.
In walked a girl with perfect posture and an aura like snowfall—silent, clean, and cold. Long black hair, eyes like polished obsidian, and a refined Kyoto accent when she spoke.
"Good morning. I'm Mayumi Kanzaki. I'll be joining you starting today."
The teacher welcomed her with a nervous smile, gesturing toward the only empty seat… right in front of Ryuu.
Of course.
As she passed his desk, Ryuu swore the temperature dropped two degrees. His system interface shimmered with red flags.
[ALERT: Karma Density Spike — Proximity Triggered]
[Unknown Spiritual Signature Detected. Classifying... ERROR.]
[Warning: Subject Mayumi Kanzaki = Tier S Anomaly]
Aera's whisper flooded his earpiece. "That's her. That's the spike. And Ryuu—she's clean.No cursed residue, no tech distortion. That's pure, raw karma cultivation."
Mayumi took her seat and didn't spare him a glance.
Which somehow made her even more suspicious.
Ryuu tried not to stare. He failed.
Midway through math class, she raised her hand. "Sensei, I believe that equation is misaligned. May I?"
She walked to the board and corrected the problem with elegant precision.
Her handwriting was… weirdly perfect. Not too neat. Not too cold. Like her control was intentional—measured.
Ryuu couldn't help noticing. "She's hiding her presence," he murmured.
Aera replied, "Very well. But not from me.
She's a disciple of the Kanzaki Karma Sect—Tokyo's most feared fate-aligned cultivators. If she's here… someone marked this school as a karmic hotspot."
Just before lunch, Ryuu glanced up from his notebook and caught her eyes for the first time.
It felt like being stabbed with a truth you weren't ready to hear.
Then she… smiled. Just slightly. Just enough to make his stomach twist.
And then she said something that made his blood freeze.
"It's strange, isn't it? This school… It feels like something is hiding here. Or someone."
She turned back around before he could answer.
[System Flag Raised – Subject Mayumi has initiated Karma Probe Dialogue.]
Ryuu leaned back, pulse racing.
"Yup," he muttered, "we're so screwed."
The lunch bell rang. Students spilled out like a tidal wave—rushing toward bento boxes, vending machines, and rooftop spots for sun and gossip.
Ryuu stayed behind, pretending to organize his bag. In reality, he was stalling.
Mayumi Kanzaki had gone somewhere—he wasn't sure where—
but his system was still picking up residual spiritual pressure, like perfume clinging to the air after someone leaves. Thick, dense karma aura. It was almost suffocating if he focused too hard.
Aera's holographic form flickered silently above his desk, invisible to everyone else. She floated upside down, head resting in her hands, watching him with a teasing grin.
"You're being obvious," she said, poking his temple with a translucent finger. "That look in your eyes? That's called spiritual curiosity. Or… romantic tension. Could be both."
Ryuu groaned, grabbing his bag. "She's definitely not normal. That smile she gave me? That was either flirting… or a challenge."
"Or both," Aera chimed. "I scanned her reaction time, spiritual field, and micro-expressions. She's at least Spirit Integration Initiate level—probably trained in fate-thread analysis."
"She can read karma threads?" Ryuu whispered, alarmed.
Aera nodded. "She might already know you're not just some average background character in this school."
They made their way through the halls. Each step Ryuu took, his system recalibrated: flickers of distorted energy pulsed in faint waves throughout the building—micro karmic interference signals.
Signs of cultivation masking. At least two other students had slightly elevated karma pressure, but none compared to Mayumi.
By the time he reached the vending machine zone behind the gym, the area was quiet. Empty. Too empty.
His system pinged.
[ALERT: Karma Disturbance – Radius 10m]
[Location: Rear Gym Garden]
[Signature: Kanzaki-Mayumi // Stable / Active Mode]
Aera stopped floating. She flickered into alert posture.
"She's waiting."
Ryuu narrowed his eyes, walking cautiously through the arch of overgrown ivy that led to the small rooftop-access garden most students ignored.
There she was—Mayumi—standing beneath the sakura tree, untouched by the August heat.
She turned before he could say anything. "I thought I sensed another… anomaly here."
Ryuu tried to play dumb. "Anomaly? You mean someone skipping class?"
"No." Her eyes narrowed. "I mean someone spiritually unstable. Your aura pulses like a corrupted thread trying to repair itself. You're not aligned. It's rare to see that outside of active sect zones."
Ryuu chuckled nervously. "Guess I'm just built different?"
Aera pinged silently.
[Danger Level Raised to Medium-High: Tone Indicates Probing]
Mayumi stepped closer, arms folded. "You're hiding something."
"So are you," Ryuu replied, trying to match her calmness.
She tilted her head. "You're right. But I'm allowed to. I'm sanctioned. You aren't."
There was no hostility in her voice, but there was weight. Pressure. The space between them thickened. Spiritual density—not lethal, but oppressive.
"Tell me," she said. "What are you?"
He smirked. "I'm a transfer student. Like you."
A flicker of amusement touched her eyes.
Then—PING.
[System Warning: Karma Thread Analysis Attempt Detected]
[Deploying Countermeasure: Fog Layer Protocol v2.0]
Aera's hologram sparked silently behind Ryuu. "She just tried to trace your karmic origin. I blocked it. Barely."
"She's good," Ryuu muttered under his breath. "Too good."
Before Mayumi could press further, the bell rang again—classes resuming.
She gave him a final glance. "Stay balanced, Ryuu Kisaragi. The karma here is already unstable. If you tip the scale…"
She didn't finish.
She didn't need to.
She walked away with the grace of a trained cultivator and the silence of someone used to walking on the edge of battles no one else could see.
Ryuu stood in the shade for a moment longer, exhaling.
"She knows."
Aera floated beside him, serious now. "Yeah. But she doesn't know know. Yet."
He cracked his neck. "Then we've got work to do."
Ryuu sat cross-legged in his bedroom, blinds half-closed, the neon haze of Tokyo leaking through the slits. On his desk, his phone buzzed silently—ignored. He'd placed it face down. Outside, traffic hummed. Inside, the tension pulsed in quiet waves.
Aera hovered above his bed in her chibi-hologram form, scrolling through layers of floating data windows, her usual cheeky tone replaced with one of analysis.
"Mayumi Kanzaki.
Confirmed disciple of the Kanzaki Karma Sect. Lineage: Direct. Discipline type: Fate-bound strictness. Combat style: Karma Thread Manipulation, Sword-Linked Meditation."
Ryuu leaned back against the wall. "So I'm basically in the same class as a karma assassin."
"She's not an assassin," Aera corrected. "She's a regulator. A Karma Purifier.
Her kind doesn't kill unless protocol permits it—but she will eliminate spiritual threats if your existence is deemed unstable."
"I mean…" He gestured at himself. "Am I not technically unstable?"
Aera grinned wryly. "That's what I'm trying to fix, Ryuu."
She flicked her fingers, summoning a large city map of Tokyo—holographic and alive with blinking points of colored light. Some pulsed gold, others violet, a few glowing with chaotic reds.
"This," she explained, "is the Karma Node Grid of Tokyo. Spiritual hotspots, both purified and corrupted. This city isn't just buildings and trains anymore—it's a spiritual battlefield disguised as urban sprawl."
Ryuu's eyes widened. "Wait… that's real-time?"
"Real-time enough," she confirmed. "There are three primary factions at war beneath the surface."
She pointed:
1. Kanzaki Karma Sect– Golden nodes. "Disciplined. Legal. Spiritual regulators. Maintain balance."
2. Onmyo Syndicate – Red-black nodes. "Cursed-tech users. Merge corrupted karma with machinery. Underground and deadly."
3. Freelance Spirit Walkers – Blue-gray nodes. "Like you. Rogue cultivators with no formal allegiance."
Ryuu stared. "So… I'm a wild card."
"Worse," Aera replied. "You're a system anomaly with no karma registration. The moment your spirit signature gets out? You're either hunted, recruited, or erased."
Ryuu let out a long sigh. "Sounds familiar."
"Welcome to Urban Cultivation," she said, smirking. "It's not just rooftop sword fights anymore. It's data. Surveillance. Karma-predictive algorithms. The future is spiritual warfare wrapped in city lights."
Ryuu glanced at the Kanzaki zone in Shibuya—it was spreading.
"She's here for something."
"She's here for someone," Aera replied. "Possibly you."
The map zoomed in—highlighting a blinking purple dot.
"Also, there's a new distortion."
Ryuu leaned forward. "Where?"
"Near your school. Shibuya Line 2. A karma echo left by a hacked fate-thread barrier… matching the anomaly signature from your last world."
His eyes darkened. "Shadow hackers…"
"Confirmed."
The room fell into silence. Aera floated closer.
"You don't have to fight alone. But you *do* have to decide where you stand."
He looked at his reflection in the window—Tokyo burning in digital flickers behind it.
"I'll stand where I won't have to kneel."
Aera smiled.
[New System Thread Activated: Karma War Tracker v1.3 Installed]
[Main Mission Update: Monitor Kanzaki Activity / Locate Shadow Sect Node]
[Romance Subroutine Ping: Subject – Mayumi Kanzaki / Status: Interlinked Fate Potential]
Ryuu blinked. "Wait… romance subroutine?"
Aera shrugged, mock-innocent. "You said you liked a challenge."
Shibuya – Status: Unstable
Night Hacker Protocol: On Standby.
Ryuu stepped onto the rooftop of his apartment complex, letting the night air wash over him.
The wind was cool, carrying the hum of Tokyo's late-hour life—trains sliding through rails below, vending machines blinking in alleys, and skyscrapers like digital monoliths pulsing with unseen energy.
The sky above was cloudless, but not empty.
His system overlay painted it with floating data—karma lines, faint constellations of spiritual interference, ghostly threads weaving across the city like celestial circuits.
He exhaled slowly. "So this is the battlefield now."
Aera appeared beside him, sitting on the ledge like a digital fairy, her hair blowing even though it wasn't real.
She didn't speak right away. Instead, she projected a rotating sigil above her palm—a glowing lotus of interlocking code and qi: Spirit Integration Pathway – 1% Initialized.
"This is the next stage," she finally said. "Your cultivation no longer relies on just body or breath. It's linked to clarity of intent, emotional resonance… and karma feedback."
Ryuu frowned. "So you're saying love makes me stronger?"
"Among other chaotic things," Aera quipped. "Emotion drives spirit. In a place like Tokyo, where everything's connected—from vending machines to ley lines—it's not just power, Ryuu. It's integration."
He looked out again over the city.
Somewhere below, Mayumi Kanzaki was moving like a shadow of fate. Somewhere else, the Onmyo Syndicate was spreading corrupted tech through the underbelly of the city.
And in between it all—was him. Glitched. Unregistered. Awake.
"I'm not ready," he said.
"No one ever is," Aera replied, her voice surprisingly gentle. "But the system believes in you. I believe in you."
He turned to her with a slight smirk. "You're my system."
She winked. "Exactly."
Just then, a flicker ran across his HUD. A karma ripple, sharp and cold.
[Warning: New Fate Thread Detected – Subject: Kanzaki, Mayumi]
[Compatibility Shift: Branching Romance Path Possibility Triggered]
Ryuu blinked. "Why now?"
"Something about you is changing," Aera murmured. "You've brought too much emotion from the last world into this one. It's leaking into your karma field."
"Too much heart, huh?"
"Or just enough," she replied.
Below, a single city light flickered out. A shadow moved.
Ryuu narrowed his eyes. "The game's shifting."
Aera's tone sharpened. "And she's already two moves ahead."
[Main Quest Updated: Trace Kanzaki / Locate Karma Fracture Zone]
[Romance Flag: Event Chain Initialized – 'Entangle / Resist']
Ryuu cracked his neck, the rooftop wind swirling around him.
"Fine," he said. "Let's play."
Scene ends with a pulse across the city grid.
The war of threads had begun.